Fluorescent light socket construction



y 1950 w. L. KELMAN 2,505,864

FLUORESCENT LIGHT SOCKET cous'muc'rxow Filed Dec. 28, 1946 IN VEN TOR.

Patented May 2, 1950 FLUORESCENT LIGHT SOCKET CON STRUGTION William L. Kelman, Providence, 3. 1. Application December 28, 1948, Serial No. 719,045

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to fluorescent light fixtures, and has particular reference to a novel socket construction therefor.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved fluorescent light socket which has a movable bulb pin receiving member.

Another object of the invention is to mount a contact member in a fluorescent light socket which is rotatable to close the lighting circuit through the fluorescent light bulb.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a movable contact member which has contact receiving slots to freely admit the contact pins oi a fluorescent light bulb without closing the circuit, and which is rotatable to lock the contact pins within the rotated contact member and close the circuit.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, the invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

in the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of an fluorescent lighting fixture;

Fig. 2 is an inner view oi one socket disclosing a contact member with slots for receiving the bulb pins;

big. 3 is a view similar to shown in bulb sition;

t le. it is a view similar to Fig. 2, the contact member being removed;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of contact member, in the position parts being broken away;

Fig. 6 is a similar view, in the position shown in Fig 3;

l ig. 'l is a perspective view oi one spring contact member;

Fig. t is a perspective view of the contact actuator for shifting the spring contact members to pin holding position: and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the contact member, the operating parts being removed to show the recessed structure thereof.

it has been found desirable to provide a novel socket for a fluorescent light fixture which has a movable part adapted to freely receive the pins 01 a fluorescent light bulb without closing the circuit, and movable to bring the pins into circuit closing position, the parts being so arillustrative Fig. 2, the slots being pin contacting and locking pothe rear oi the shown in Fig. 2,

ranged that the pins are locked against removal when in circuit closing position. To this end, I provide a socket base, which has fixed contact blades and has a rotatable contact member mounted therein; the contact member is provided with pin receiving slots, and has spring contacts which engage the contact blades and lock the bulb pins against removal when the contact member is turned.

Referring to the drawings, an illustrative fluorescent fixture Ill includes a light bulb It and two sockets i2 01' similar construction which are mounted in spaced relation on a base it, a transformer in the base having the usual starter and wiring to complete the lighting circuit through a plug it and a standard switch it. The invention resides in the construction of the socket element, Figs. 2 and 3 illustrating one socket, and Figs. 4 to 7 illustrating the openating parts thereof.

The socket it is of insulating material and includes a base portion it having the usual openings which receive holding screws. and an upright body member ll which houses spaced contact blades it, it, the upper portion of the body member being recessed to provide a charm her it into which the upper ends of the contact blades it, it extend, as illustrated in Fig. t. The upper rim ii of the chamber it is pro vided with two spaced pin entrance ope or ii til, it, and a cam element it of generally tri angular shape is positioned od center in the chamber it, see Fig. i, and is shownin dott lines in Figs. 5 and 6.

A movable contact member it of dish to and made of insulating material is rotatably mounted in the chamber it, as by a pin support it, and is provided with two spaced parallel slots it, it which are in alignment with the oiltrance openings it, 23 when the contact memher it is in the position shown in Fig. 2, to receive the correspondingly spaced end pins of the bulb. in this position the pins enter the slots to substantially the center of the contact member it, as indicated by the reference numerals it. tt.

Two raised comma-like portions 3L1! cooperate with the ralsed rim portion M o! the contact member to provide recesses which receive two spring contacts 34, 35, which have bases 36 extending partially over the portions 3|, 32, sides 31 which seat in slots at, 39 provided in a raised portion 40, arcuate portions I which receive the tips of the bulb pins, and spring arms 42 which bend inwardly and which the position shown standard type such as a cylinder are initially adjacent to but spaced from the bulb pin ends, and are movable to resiliently engage the bulb pins and lock them against the arcuate portions ll.

A shaped actuator 43 o! insulating material. see Fig. 9, has a body portion 44 and two parallel legs l5, 4, the body portion ll being positioned between the spring arms I: and the legs l5, 46 being movably seated in slots 41, 48 in the raised rim portion 33, whereby radial outward movement of the actuator presses the curved portions of the spring arms to bring their ends into resilient contact with the bulb pins.

The radial outward movement of the actuator 43 is eiIected by the fixed cam element 24 when the contact member is rotated on its pin support 28, the contact member assuming the position shown in Fig. 6. In this position the bases 3i the spring contacts engage the upper ends of the contact blades i8, i9, and erably provided with projections 19 which seat into depressions c in the ends of the contact blades for obtaining good retaining engagement.

when the bulb II is to be inserted into the sockets, the contact members are in the position of Fig. 2, whereupon the bulb pins are readily inserted into the slots Z'i, 28 through the openings 22, 23 until they engage the arcuate seats ll. In this position the bases 35 of the spring contacts do not engage the contact blades i8, i9, and the cam element 2| does not engage the actuator; the tension of the spring arms has therefore moved the actuator inwardly so that the ends of the spring arms have moved inwardly and do not interfere with insertion of the bulb pins.

The bulb I l is now turned, whereupon the contact members assume the position shown in Fig. 6. The bases 36 now engage the contact blades i8, it,

,the cam element 24 has moved the actuator l3,

and the spring arms 42 are tightly pressed against the bulb pins to lock the pins against the arcuate portions 4i. Further, the slots 21, 28 are now in in Fig. 3, whereby the ends of the slots 21, 28 are closed.

The tension of the projections 49 in the depressions 58 on the contact blade ends is normally suflicient to lock the parts together against inadvertent turning, but, if desired, a spring snap of p with spring pressed bail may be set in a recess in the raised portion 40 to cooperate with a slight depression in the lower portion 2| of the socket to obtain 'furtherresistance to inadvertent turning.

While I have described a specific embodiment; of the invention, it is obvious that the spring contacts may be locked in the contact members by molding them in, that the parts may be arranged so that the bulb end pins when positioned in the contact member may themselves be utilized as contact elements which cooperate with fixed contact blades or the like in the socket box, and that changes in the size, shape, position and material the bases 36 are prei- 4 i or the parts may be made to suit different requirements for diflerent fluorescent light socket constructions, without departing irom the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A socket construction for a fluorescent light fixture, comprising a base having a circular recess, spaced contact blades mounted in said base and extending into said recess, a pin end receiving member rotatabiy mounted in said recess and having spaced slots for receiving the pin ends of a fluorescent bulb, a contact element in each slot of said receiving member engageable by the =-received pin end, said contact elements being adapted to engage said spaced contact blades in one position of the pin end receiving member, and means for locking the pin ends in engagement with the contact elements, said means including -spring arms on said contact members movable to engage the pin ends when the pin end receiving member is rotated to engage the contact elements with the spaced contact blades.

2. A socket construction for a. fluorescent light fixture, comprising a base having a circular rccess, spaced contact blades mounted in said base and extending into said recess, a pin end receiving member rotatably mounted in said recess and having spaced slots for receiving the pin ends of a fluorescent bulb, contact elements mounted in said receiving member and engageable by the received pin ends, said contact elements being adapted to engage said spaced contact blades in one position of the pin end receiving member. and means for locking the pin ends in the slots, said means including spring arms on said contact members, an actuator movably mounted in said pin end receiving member and adapted to press on said spring arms and move them into contasting locking engagement with the pin ends, and a fixed cam on said base for moving said actuator when the pin end receiving member is rotated to. engage the contact elements with the spaced contact blades.

WILLIAM L. KELMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the tile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,002,558 Von Holtz May 28, 1935 2,108,633 Wiegand et a1 Feb. 15. 1938 2,252,340 Bryant et al Aug. 12, 1941 2,282,875 Mueller May 12, 1942 2,288,376 Tuppen June 30, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 650,813 Germany Oct. 1, 1987 

